


baby dragon doot-doot-doot-doo

by mage-pie (looselipssinksubs)



Series: silly fics [5]
Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik, 琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Temeraire Fusion, Dragons, Gen, I’m not even the slightest bit sorry about the title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28596444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/looselipssinksubs/pseuds/mage-pie
Summary: “Hello, little friend,” said Yujin. He smiled and leaned down to—was he scratching it behind the ears? Seriously? With those fangs right next to his face? The fangs which were currently, no joke,dripping blood?
Relationships: Xiao Jingrui & Yan Yujin
Series: silly fics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097804
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	baby dragon doot-doot-doot-doo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theleakypen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theleakypen/gifts).



> Originally posted on tumblr for theleakypen’s prompt: “Xiao Jingrui didn’t know what he was expecting when Yujin invited him out to ride in the woods outside Jinling, but this wasn’t it.”

Xiao Jingrui didn’t know what he was expecting when Yan Yujin invited him out to ride in the woods outside Jinling, but this wasn’t it.

Yujin had said they needed to leave their horses some distance back and walk the rest of the way. Now Jingrui knew why.

“Yujin-gege! Yujin-gege!” chirruped a little voice. Then the owner of the voice bounced out of the undergrowth, and it did _not_ look like it sounded. Jingrui took a step back.

“Hello, little friend,” said Yujin. He smiled and leaned down to—was he scratching it behind the ears? Seriously? With those fangs right next to his face? The fangs which were currently, no joke, _dripping blood?_

“I caught another deer! All by myself! I wanted to show you but you were gone for _so long_ and I was _so hungry_ …”

Instead of having a normal reaction to this information—that a creature the length of a man with enormous fangs had brought down a deer and ate the entire thing in less than an hour—Yujin praised it (him?) and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe its face (fangs!!!) and generally fussed over it.

Well. Not ‘it.’ Might as well say it.

A dragon. A real dragon with the power of speech, the living embodiment of what was supposed to be only a symbol, except instead of being ancient and wise, this one seemed to be a hatchling. A baby.

Yujin was sitting on the ground now, cross-legged, with the dragon’s head in his lap. He had not stopped talking the entire time.

“…and I got my tail stuck, so then by the time I pulled it out, the flying thing got away…”

Jingrui sat down on the ground too, for lack of any other idea.

“Yujin-gege,” said the dragon suddenly. “Who is that?”

“Oh! I should have introduced you. This is Xiao Jingrui. He’s my very good friend.”

The dragon hissed. Yujin hastily threw his arms around the dragon’s head to restrain him, though he didn’t move, only glared at Jingrui.

“You’re _my_ friend,” said the baby dragon sulkily.

Yujin petted him some more. “People can have more than one friend. I still like you no matter how many other friends I have.”

“But do you like me best?”

“I’ll be your friend too,” said Jingrui, mostly to save Yujin from having to answer such a question.

“You will?”

Jingrui reached out, moving slowly so the dragon wasn’t taken by surprise. Cautiously, the dragon pushed his nose into his hand.

*

Soon afterwards, when the dragon had abruptly fallen asleep, Yujin said quietly, “I’m afraid to even suggest giving him to the emperor.”

“What? No, don’t!” said Jingrui. “He’ll probably bite anyone who suggests parting him from you.”

“I don’t think Jingyan-ge would try to do that,” said Yujin. Here, in the privacy of the woods, they could use that name.

“He probably wouldn’t, once he saw how attached he is to you. The ministers will be in fits, though. He is an imperial symbol, after all.”

Yujin looked down at the scaly creature which currently had a foreleg wrapped affectionately around his waist. “Never mind the emperor and the ministers, you know who’s really going to have a fit?”

It was a relief to Jingrui that despite all they’d been through and despite his long absence, the two of them still thought in tandem. “Mu Qing.” He laughed. “He’s going to go _out of his mind_.”

*

“Yujin brought a new friend with him this morning,” said the emperor of Da Liang to his empress.

“Oh? That’s nice. Who is it?” she asked, alerted by his tone that there was something significant here.

“Yujin’s friend is… hm. Have you ever wondered what Fei Liu would be like if he never stopped talking, and also had claws and fangs?”

“I can’t say that I have.” She put down her cup. “Wait, did you say claws and fangs?”

“Mm. And stubby little horns.”

**Author's Note:**

> There are two Temeraire-verse facts I am ignoring/handwaving: dragons already lived beside humans in China before this era, and baby dragons need to hear human speech in the shell in order to hatch already speaking it. 
> 
> Let’s just pretend the egg was brought here by someone from Southern Chu or Northern Yan, who spoke to it in multiple languages.


End file.
